


The Gentle Fist

by lemsippy



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff, Other, Training, choji is a very pure boy, i really love him he's so cute wtf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29859495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemsippy/pseuds/lemsippy
Summary: Shikamaru requests that you spend some time training with Choji, your recent developing crush. Somewhat begrudgingly, you head to Choji's house fearful that you'll end up making a fool of yourself. Unbeknown to you, Choji also has had a crush on you for quite some time.
Relationships: Akimichi Chouji/Reader





	The Gentle Fist

“What I’m trying to say is that I think you’re the most suited for the job, if you don’t want to do it that’s fine but at least consider it. Choji hasn’t had a proper training partner since Asuma- Well, you know… “Shikamaru’s voice wavered, it was only for a second but you could see the guilt in his eyes. He still blamed himself for his sensei’s death. Before you could even offer any comfort he let out a small chuckle. “I’d do it myself but I’m busy with other things, same goes for Ino. You and Choji get along well too, he could do with a friend right now.”  
“If he could do with a friend, why don’t you go?” you huffed, playfully elbowing him in his side. “You make it sound like such a chore but of course I’ll help him train. That’s what friends are for, right?”  
Shikamaru smirked at you, placing his hands behind his head. “I knew you’d say yes. After all, you and Choji are a little more than just friends.”  
You felt your face heat up. “And what’s that supposed to mean exactly?” You crossed your arms, turning your head away from Shikamaru in a poor effort to hide your blush.  
Shikamaru sighed. “Nothing in particular. Now leave me be, I’m busy. Choji will probably be at home right now, so go and fetch him. I’ll see ya later.” You watched in silence as he quickly turned on his heel and walked away from you, raising his hand and giving you a little wave. You angrily stamped your foot into the dirt. That damn Shikamaru, you were willing to bet your right arm he didn’t have anything to do and was just looking for an excuse. What was the point of you training with Choji anyway? Not that you were necessarily complaining, you were very fond of Choji, maybe a little too fond. His presence had always put you at ease, but recently when you were around him you could feel your pulse quicken and your hands always seemed to grow clammy. Groaning loudly you started walking towards Choji’s house, your mind in turmoil being unable to decide whether training with Choji would be absolutely the best thing to happen to you, or if it would be an embarrassing, awful, uncomfortable event that would haunt you for eternity.

You hesitated before knocking on the door in front of you. You weren’t even sure if Choji was home and already you could feel your heart going wild. You nervously wiped your palms on your shirt, cringing inwardly at how visibly wet they’d been. Shifting your feet nervously, you stood on your tiptoes, placing your hands on the door to steady yourself as you leant forward to peek through the eyelet to see if anyone was on the other side. As you did this, you almost watched in slow motion as the door handle twitched and the door began opening inwardly. Before you could even catch yourself you were tumbling forward. “Oomf” your head made contact with something warm and soft.  
“Y/N, are you alright?”  
You yelped, suddenly jumping back, your face a dark crimson. Stood directly in front of you was an equally red-faced Choji. “Sorry! I was just checking to see if anyone was in, and then you opened the door and I lost my balance” you laughed a little too loudly, God you wanted to crawl into a pit and die right now.  
Choji, still looking somewhat confused and flustered, beamed at you. “I’m glad you're okay. If I’d known you were there I would have caught you.” You choked slightly, hurriedly trying to disguise it as a cough “Right… Well uhm…” You hopped from one foot to another, wringing your hands. You felt as though your entire body was on fire, how was he so calm about all this? Your head spun as you tried to focus on acting somewhat normally, you could feel your mind drifting to imagine a scenario where he had caught you, how it would feel to have him hold you in his big strong arms…-  
“Are you sure you’re alright Y/N? You look like you’re about to pass out. Are you hungry? I can get you some snacks if you want.” Hearing Choji’s voice snapped you back into reality, he was leaning in slightly, concern painted over his face.  
Laughing again you gave Choji a thumbs up “I’m fine, I promise. And anyway, we don’t have time for snacks because we’re going to train together!”

Unbeknownst to you, Choji’s world had stopped. He’d been trying his absolute hardest to not have a heart attack, he couldn’t believe it when he’d opened the door and the person he hadn’t been able to get out of his mind lately had fallen onto him. He also couldn’t believe he’d just admitted to you that he wished he could have caught you. He felt guilty, you looked so uncomfortable, if only he’d made sure to check who was at the door before opening it maybe you wouldn’t have fallen. As much as he secretly wished he could just hold you in his arms, he knew it would never happen. Never in a million years would someone as perfect as you feel the same way. The thought of training with you made him feel nauseous, what if you thought he was weak? Or even worse, what if he somehow hurt you? Trying to steady himself he took a deep breath, “You want to train with me? Wouldn’t you be better off training with someone like Neji?  
“Why Neji? And anyway, it doesn’t matter, Shikamaru asked me to train with you so that’s what I’m doing!”  
Choji’s face fell slightly. Of course that’s the reason you had for training with him. Had it not been for Shikamaru you wouldn’t even be here. What was Shikamaru thinking? Choji knew he should have never told Shikamaru about his crush on you, here he was trying to push you together when realistically it would never work out.  
“You came all this way just because Shikamaru asked? You really are a great friend Y/N” Choji gave you as warm a smile as he could. “Let me put something more suitable on” he gestured to his outfit, a loose-fitting red jumper with matching sweats. “You can wait inside if you like? After I get changed we can grab some snacks to take with us.” his eyes twinkled at the mention of snacks. Trying your best to compose yourself you grinned at him.  
“That sounds great” you stepped forwards, following him into his house. He pointed towards the kitchen “You can have a look and see if there’s anything you want, I’ll only be a minute or two” Choji said, you nodded and watched him as he walked away. Sighing heavily you ambled into his kitchen which, unsurprisingly, was extremely well-stocked. You’d been here plenty of times, usually after a mission Choji’s mum would insist you come round and eat a proper meal, and so you knew exactly where everything was. Grabbing yourself an apple, a bag of crisps and an energy drink you sat down at the table. You absentmindedly poked your apple, you should have been happy when Choji called you a good friend, so why was it that you’d felt your stomach drop to the floor? You buried your head into your hands. Why was everything so confusing? Why couldn’t you just admit that you had feelings for him?  
“Sorry I took so long, are you ready?”  
You lifted your head up, Choji was now wearing a pair of baggy shorts and a black T-shirt, his well-toned arms on partial display. You mentally cursed at yourself. Why were you getting excited over the fact you could see his arms? “You sure took your time” you teased, watching as he rummaged through the cupboards, grabbing a handful of items. Turning to face you he grinned at you. “Let’s get going then!”

The walk to the training grounds had been much less awkward. You found yourself growing accustomed to your quickened pulse and soon managed to fall into a comfortable conversation. After arriving at the training grounds you’d briefly discussed how you were to go about your training, eventually deciding that you’d help Choji work on his taijutsu, an area in which you excelled in. You explained to Choji that because of his build and speed he should focus on learning how to effectively block attacks to then take advantage of an opening, briefly demonstrating numerous blocking techniques and explaining the situations when it would be best to use them, having him replicate the movement after you’d demonstrated. You couldn’t help but find it adorable just how attentive he was, he practically hung off your every word, his eyes shining each and every time you praised him.  
“Right. I think you’re ready to put these into practical use!” You said, placing your hands on your hips and looking appreciatively at him. “I’m going to come at you full force alright? Don’t hold back, when you see an opening hit me with all your might!” You watched as he shifted nervously, looking down towards the floor.  
“But what if I hurt you?” His eyes met yours, they were brimming with tears. He took a step towards you, his eyes still on yours. “I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I hurt you…”  
You turned away slightly as you felt your face heat up yet again, trying your best to compose yourself you waved your hand dismissively. “What makes you think I’d be so easy to hurt? We’ll start slow and then speed up. I’ll be able to tell if you’re holding back.” With this you ran towards him, throwing the first punch. He seemed to be lost in some sort of trance, you watched as he only just managed to snap back to reality and block your fist with his forearm. You continued throwing various kicks and punches at him, occasionally stopping to give him pointers or advice.

You were both panting quite heavily now, you’d been throwing yourself at him for roughly 3 hours and he’d yet to make a direct hit. Wiping the sweat from your forehead you charged forwards again, this time starting with a kick. As you grew more exhausted, you found your mind had begun to wander more frequently. Each time you’d managed to land a hit on his stomach, you’d felt the strong muscles that lay hidden under a few layers of comforting warmth. Each time he blocked an attack with his arms you’d noticed how they’d tensed up, barely straining against the force of your attack. You hadn’t realised just how strong Choji was up until now, each attack of his you’d managed to block had been impossibly heavy. You were honestly surprised he hadn't completely broken through your defence, although you suspected that he wasn’t putting his full power into each attack. Shit. You hadn’t been paying attention. You clumsily missed your punch, stumbling slightly as your balance was thrown off. You watched in slow motion as you saw Choji’s fist approach you, taking full advantage of your opening. You smiled, closing your eyes awaiting the punch. A few seconds passed, nothing happened. You opened your eyes, in front of you Choji was breathing heavily, his fist remained only a few centimetres away from your face.  
“Are you planning on hitting me any time soon?” you asked, straightening yourself to look at his face.  
“I- I- I can’t... I can’t do it!” Choji looked at you desperately. “Pa was right. I’m not cut out to be a shinobi. I’m… I’m sorry for wasting your time Y/N.” Tears streamed down his face, he let out a large sob before hurriedly burying his face into his hands. You stepped towards him, tenderly pulling his hands away from his face. You cupped his cheeks in both your hands, wiping away his tears with your thumbs.  
“Y/N… What are you-?”  
You shushed him as you wrapped your arms around him, pulling him into a hug. “I think you’re a wonderful shinobi, maybe one of the best in the leaf” squeezing him gently you buried your head into his chest. You smiled as you felt his body relax, his large arms engulfing you in an impossibly warm embrace. You could feel him sobbing still, his body occasionally shaking with the force of his cries. You looked up at his face, even when he was crying he was still impossibly cute. He glanced down at you, his eyes slightly puffy and his cheeks red. Using one of his arms to wipe away his tears he did his best to smile down at you. Humming slightly you removed your hands from around his waist, placing them on his chest “How about we give it a break? We can go to Yakiniku Q, my treat for all your hard work today”  
He beamed down at you, his face practically glowing with happiness. It was nearly impossible to tell that just moments ago he’d been a sobbing mess, he chuckled lightly, strengthening his grip on you he lifted you up slightly, pulling you into a bear hug. He spun you around in excitement before his face turned bright red and he hurriedly placed you down, lightly patting you down. “Heh, sorry. I got a little carried away there” he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. You exhaled heavily, smiling to yourself. It was now or never. You approached him. reaching up you laced your hands behind his neck, giving yourself some leverage. Gently pulling yourself up you stood on your tiptoes and pressed your lips softly against his. Quickly pulling away before he had any time to respond you began walking in the direction of Yakiniku Q, leaving a very flustered, confused, but also immeasurably happy Choji standing completely still with a goofy grin on his face.  
“Hey! Wait for me!” He shouted, running after you as you powered ahead. Slowing your pace for a second, you waited for him to catch up. You gasped lightly as he grabbed your hand, interlocking his fingers with your own.  
“Let’s walk together”. 

Shikamaru smirked as he watched you and Choji walking hand in hand. Yawning loudly, he stretched onto his back, looking absentmindedly at the clouds. He’d been hoping one of you would finally have the courage to admit their feelings to the other, and from the looks of it ‘operation get them to train together’ had been a success.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :) make sure you're staying hydrated


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